A Syrian human rights organisation has called on President Bashar al-Assad to release detainees and put an end to illegal arrests. Syrian human rights activist and writer Ali Abd Allah was arrested overnight at his home near Damascus, rights organisations said on Monday. "Ali Abd Allah was probably arrested because he had read a message written by Ali Sadr al-Din al-Bayanuni, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, during a 7 May Atassi political dissident forum about reforms in Syria," said the Syrian Organisation for the Defence of Human Rights (SODH).The Syrian government has banned most dissident political forums, and has prohibited opposition groups from operating, including the Muslim Brotherhood. However, intellectuals, activists and human rights leaders regularly attend discussion meetings at the home of Suheir al-Attasi, which has become known as the Attasi salon.